The LDS Church officially condemns the abuse of women and children. If one considers such crimes as being related to a community’s socialization to obedience and sacrifice, it is important to examine the shared LDS myths that reinforce members’ understandings and expectations regarding these elements of belief and practice. The Church claims to be a …
Speaker: Doe Daughtrey
LOVE AND HATE IN THE DESERT SOUTHWEST: TEACHING MORMONISM ON THE FRONT LINES
The academic study of Mormonism in the public university continues to generate interest, particularly among historians, scholars of religion, and many Latter-day Saints with academic training. This discussion focuses on the development and delivery of an “issues in Mormonism” course over a two semester period at Arizona State University. Using examples from classroom presentations, journal …
REAL GODDESSES HAVE CURVES (AND IDENTITIES)
This panel invites Mormon women to talk about how they find meaning and inspiration in images of divine female power drawn from other religions and traditions. What do we learn about ourselves as women and as agents of the divine by studying the stories or representations of goddesses such as Shakti, Kali, Rhiannon, Venus, Athena, …
‘THE GODDESS IS ALIVE AND MAGICK IS AFOOT’: MORMON PAGAN WOMEN IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Scholars of religion report that Wicca, Paganism, and other “earth-centered” or “nature” religions are the fastest growing of all new religious movements in America. This discussion will explore why some LDS women have chosen Wiccan and similar practices as either supplements to or replacements for their Mormonism. How and where were these women exposed to …
Panel. Has ‘Mormon Studies’ Begun to Arrive? Vision, Plans, Challenges, Impact
SL03091, This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the March on Washington, at which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, and the thirty-fifth anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination. It also marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the revelation reversing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ policy of …
Body, Parts, and Passions: Representing the Divine Feminine in the Mormon Church
Body, Parts, and Passions: Representing the Divine Feminine in the Mormon Church This paper examines why Mother in Heaven has been progressively eliminated from institutional discourse. Viewing Mother through the lens of iconography, I suggest that the Church’s move to designate her as “sacred” is an iconoclastic act that dissociates her from Mormon collective memory. …